Children of Riptide
by sueKay-04
Summary: Gibbs investigates a secret part of Shannon's past, and learns a thing or two about his own Senior Agent in the process...NOT SLASH
1. Chapter 1

Hi there!

This is my second NCIS story - for readers of my first 'The Lost Boys', it will be updated soon, I promise!

Synopsis - Gibbs investigates a secret part of Shannon's past, and learns a thing or two about his own Senior Agent in the process...

This story is an AU, and a sci fi, so if that's not your thing, then don't read lol! I can't explain too much about what's going to happen yet, but I'm hoping you'll all like it! And it's a father/son story, not slash :)

SPOILER ALERT FOR SEASON 8 - All episodes aired so far!

This story will feature Gibbs as he is in season 8 - more open, less gruff, so in this first chapter at least he may seem a little out of sorts. Don't worry he'll soo be back to his head-slapping, glaring best!

* * *

"Perfect," Tony smiled as he walked away from his iPod dock and the sound of Bach's Sonata no. 3 began to play.

Tony picked up a book from his coffee table and flicked it open to where he'd left off, depositing the bookmark Abby had made for him on the table.

This is what Tony loved best. Sitting with a good book and listening to classical music, not that any of his team (besides Abby, Jimmy and Ducky) would actually believe that fact. He'd loved classical music his entire life, and that love had come from his mother. One of many things he'd inherited from her.

Tony was only mildly surprised when his door chimed, as Jimmy had mentioned he might be round later with a Vincenzo Natali movie boxset for him. He hadn't wanted to tell the kid that horror wasn't his favourite genre, so he merely yelled, "It's open!" and stuck a smile on his face.

As he replaced the bookmark and left the book on the table he heard the door creak open.

"So what one do you want to watch? All-out gore with Cube, or bestiality with Splice?"

"What?" came a voice that was definitely not Jimmy's.

Tony blinked and looked up, "Oh, hey boss…Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Bestiality?"

"Uhm…It's in a movie, Splice. They make this creature out of human DNA and animal DNA and in the end it sleeps with one of the scientists…Jimmy just got the movie on DVD…And what are you doing here?"

"You asked that already," Gibbs said quietly, and for the first time Tony really looked at his boss.

"Everything okay Boss?" he said with worry and concern, "That bastard Alejandro get out?"

"What? No…Everything's fine. I guess."

"Then why are you here?"

"That's three times," Gibbs smiled waggling a finger at his senior field agent before setting a six pack down on the table and sitting abruptly and heavily on Tony's chocolate brown leather sofa.

"Actually it isn't. The first two times I said 'what are you doing here', and that time I said 'why are you here'," Tony smiled.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs cut him off, "Sit. Have a beer."

Tony scrutinised his boss a little further before sitting down in his recliner. Both men opened their beers and took a gulp and sat in silence for a few moments before Gibbs began to speak.

"Have you ever been at a moment in your life Tony, where you were at a crossroads, and you thought that once you were through those crossroads, you'd be able to move on, but you can't?"

Tony eyed Gibbs with concern - something definitely wasn't right.

"I might have," he replied.

Gibbs nodded absent-mindedly, his eyes fixating on Tony's DVD cabinet for a few moments.

"Boss…You know you can talk to me about whatever's bugging you and it'll never leave this room."

"I know Tony, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Tony allowed himself a small smile at that comment and there was another moment of silence before Gibbs talked again.

"I just find all this, I don't know, talking about stuff, difficult."

Tony remained silent, hoping Gibbs would get to the point soon as he was getting worried.

"You know, it was actually Shannon's fault that both Ginger and Stephanie left me."

Okay, Tony hadn't been expecting _that_.

"How so?"

"You hear all this crap about married couples sharing everything…No secrets…Well I had secrets I liked to keep, and stuff I couldn't tell them from both NCIS and the Corps and they didn't like it…It didn't bother Diane because she lied to me about plenty of stuff, but it really got to Ginger and Stephanie. They wanted to know everything about everything. They knew about Shannon and Kelly, but I didn't tell them for a while, and I still couldn't really open up to either of them, and when Stephanie miscarried, alone in Moscow with no friends or family and with me on an undercover op, I still couldn't do it."

Tony's eyes widened. The wives, Shannon, Kelly and a miscarriage all in the one sentence. What was wrong with his boss? Was he sick? Tony opted to play it cool for the moment.

"I'm sorry to hear that boss…But how was it Shannon's fault?"

Gibbs took another gulp of his drink before continuing, "She never insisted we tell each other everything…And she had a lot of secrets."

Tony screwed up his face slightly, trying to understand Gibbs' logic. He went to open his mouth when Gibbs took the conversation on another tangent.

"Shannon was only sixteen first time I ever saw her…I was fifteen. Thought she was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. She never looked at me twice though…I was this mute, angry moron that was always getting the crap kicked out of him, and she was not only beautiful, but damn smart. Started college at sixteen. She spent most of the year in New York at Columbia studying linguistics, and I'd only ever see her between semesters when she came back to Stillwater to help Joanne with their family's store…Didn't work up the courage to talk to her until the day I left Stillwater for the Marines. She told me to stop fighting, and I did…For the most part," he smirked.

Tony smiled at the image of a teenage girl telling Leroy Jethro Gibbs to stop fighting with the other kids.

"After that, we saw each other as often as we could, but I was always away stationed someplace or other, and she was always away at seminars and conferences and out doing field work, and then she did her Masters and I didn't see her for virtually two years. We would have been about 23, 24 by the time we finally managed to move in together. 25 when we got married, 26 when Kelly came along. But I didn't even really get to see her a lot of the time, even when I wasn't deployed…Because she was keeping secrets from me."

* * *

Gibbs looked over at Tony who was staring at him strangely.

"Did you ever find out what she was hiding?"

"Yeah, sorta."

Gibbs regarded the worried and quizzical expression on his agent's face and elaborated, "She was a linguist, an excellent one by all accounts. Taught me a few languages when she could…But she specialised in ancient, dead languages, ancient Mayan languages to be exact."

Gibbs watched as Tony took a sip of his beer, his eyes serious and returning his stare. Gibbs couldn't figure out why Tony looked so concerned so he continued his story.

"She would spend most of her time out in the field in Guatemala, looking at temples and pyramids, deciphering the glyphs, but she would never tell me specifics. She stopped doing that sort of field work when we got engaged, but one day when Kelly would have been about three, she seemed a bit depressed, and then she told me she needed to go back to field work. I told her that I knew how much she loved her work, and how much she missed it, but that they could find someone else. That's when she told me what was really going on, and that she didn't have a choice.

"She was working for a highly classified government programme, called Project Antigua, as a linguist. She couldn't tell me any specifics - it was 'need-to-know'…She shouldn't even have told me the name of the project."

"Wow," Tony said, listening to every word. The SFA seemed to be thinking some things over, "You don't think the government took stock in all this 2012 nonsense and sent her down there to find out if the world was going to end, do you?"

Gibbs allowed himself a small smile, "Your guess is as good as mines DiNozzo."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments and Gibbs could feel Tony's eyes burning a hole in the side of his head.

"Boss. Why are you telling me all this?"

Gibbs sighed, staring down at his drink.

"When you all found out what I'd done to Hernandez…When you all…well I know none of you could ever be happy with, or condone what I'd done, but…It was like this great weight was just lifted from me, y'know? And thinking about Shannon and Kelly had already started to become easier…The happy memories were coming back.

"After we got Paloma, and put Alejandro behind bars I actually began to believe that I was finally going to be able to put everything that had happened behind me and move on…But I haven't. I still needed closure.

"Kelly and Maddie buried a time-capsule in the back yard just a few days before I shipped out to Desert Storm. When Maddie told me about the capsule, I dug it up, but I never opened it…I wasn't ready for that closure, and as long as that time-capsule remained sealed…It was as if there was something about Kelly I was still to find out…One final surprise, I guess. So I buried it where I'd found it, and tried not to think about it."

"Makes sense," Tony said softly, and Gibbs could feel the younger man's uneasiness at his boss' candidness.

After another sip of beer Gibbs spoke up, "I dug that time-capsule up and opened it two weeks ago."

Tony's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You really are trying to move on…What was in it if you don't mind my asking."

Gibbs smiled, "Some of her toys, couple of drawings, things like that.

"After I opened it, I thought that would be it, I'd move on, but I didn't…I began to think and I realised I still hadn't found out exactly what Shannon was doing in Guatemala."

"You want to find out what she was doing, to find closure?"

Gibbs nodded wordlessly.

"You're gonna need to call in favours with everyone that owes you boss."

"I know…but I…I have to know, Tony...I have to find out, and that's why I came to see you…I uh," he fumbled, "I need your help Tony…help me find out what Project Antigua was.

"Is that Bach?" Gibbs said abruptly before Tony had a chance to answer him.

"Uh, yeah."

"Didn't know you liked that sort of music."

"What's not to like?" Tony said defensively, earning a smirk from Gibbs.

After a moment Tony turned to Gibbs, "I don't know how you expect me to help you find out what Shannon was up to boss, and I really think you'd have been better asking Abby or McGee with their computer smarts, or Ziva with all that classified knowledge she's gleaned over the years, or Ducky or Fornell with their contacts…I don't think I'll be much use to you, but I'll try."

"I came to you because I wanted you to help…I can only really trust you and Ducky not to gossip, and Ducky would try and talk me out of it…tell me it was classified for a reason, and that she didn't know what I was doing when I'd be called away to take out a mark…And he'd probably give me a lecture on trust being a two-way street, and that I should trust Shannon."

Tony smiled softly, "Sounds just like Ducky…So you came to me, your St. Bernard who'll have a barrel of bourbon at the ready for you when you get snowed under with all the red tape?"

Gibbs actually managed a chuckle, "something like that."

Tony chuckled back, and then he went into his own little world for a few moments. Gibbs recognised the behaviour instantly.

"What do you got DiNozzo?"

Tony smiled, "I may be no computer genius, but my mother taught anthropology at Columbia for a while…might be able to use that connected to get into their student records system…I could say I was wanting to look up a student my mother befriended, or something similar…Federal Agent politely looking for information on his late mother's friend? They might cave."

"If she taught anthropology she might well have known Shannon," Gibbs smiled.

"Who knows?" Tony smiled, "I'll also do some digging online for you."

I appreciate that Tony, and I'm going to take one of your suggestions…Director Morrow owed me big time at NCIS, and I've never collected the favour."

"Homeland security? Good place to start asking questions…Good place to get into a whole heap of trouble as well."

"Perhaps," Gibbs grinned, "Going to annoy Fornell too."

"You should still ask McGee to help," Tony smiled, "We both know he can hack just about anything."

Gibbs took one final swig of his beer and indicated towards Tony's now empty bottle. Wordlessly Tony handed him the bottle and Gibbs quickly disposed of them.

"I'm gonna head home…Maybe call Fornell tonight about all of this," Gibbs said quietly as he headed for the door.

"Sure thing Boss."

Gibbs give his friend a warm smiled and opened the door as Tony came up to see him out.

"And Tony, thank you for listening."

"Anytime boss…Always got your six."

Gibbs smiled before walking out and heading for the stairs - Tony's elevator was always out of order.

* * *

Tony locked the door as soon as Gibbs left and leaned heavily on it for a moment. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before walking over and picking up his phone. He quickly keyed in the number and waited for the other person to pick up. After a moment his friend answered and Tony sighed heavily, a cold feeling of betrayal seeping into his heart.

"Yeah It's DiNozzo…I think we have a problem."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi all!

Wow! Wasn't expecting there to be much interest in this story, but I've been pleasantly surprised!

Many thanks to The Black Sluggard, combatcrazy, tayababy, GibbsRules, angeleyes46, PTBvisiongrrl, diana teo, Chrissy227, Gibbs4eva and katesari for the reviews, and thank you to everyone who's watching or who favourited the story!

Tony-lovers - stick with me - All I can say is that Tony's my fave character!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Several hours later Gibbs was in his basement, slowly sipping on his bourbon. He'd been distracted by his talk with Tony, and he couldn't quite believe just how open he'd been with the younger man.

But his gut was telling him something he couldn't decipher yet, and from the moment he'd brought up Project Antigua there had been a cold knot of dread in place of his usual sure-footedness. Now that he'd verbalised his wish to find out just what Shannon had been doing all those years ago, he couldn't rest. He had to find out what the Project was. Gibbs quickly retrieved his phone from the debris scattered over his work bench and keyed in Fornell's number.

"_Agent Fornell."_replied a groggy Tobias.

"Fornell. Got a minute?"

"_Yeah, it's only 3am...got plenty of time before I need to be up for the school run," _the FBI agent responded sarcastically.

"Good to know I'm not inconveniencing you then," Gibbs chuckled silently as he spoke.

"_What can I do for you Jethro?"_

"Know anything about a Project Antigua?"

Gibbs listened to the silence that greeted his question.

"_Can't say I do Jethro...Why do you want to know?"_

"Personal reasons Tobias...All I know is that the project operated out of Guatemala...Antigua presumably, and that they hired linguists that specialised in dead languages...It was operational during the 70s and 80s."

"_Well I've never heard about it...Might be long defunct which would make it difficult to find any files...They might have been lost in the shuffle from paper to digital."_

"I know. Can you help me or not?"

"_I'll look into it Jethro."_

Gibbs nodded to himself and hung up on Fornell without further explanation.

* * *

Gibbs arrived in the bullpen earlier than usual having not slept a wink. He was hoping either Tony or Tobias would find something and get back to him today.

Ziva and McGee arrived like clockwork in perfect time for the start of their shift, Tony as usual was ten minutes late, but redeemed himself by bringing everyone coffee.

The team had no new case to work on, so he instructed Ziva, McGee and Tony to start on the backlog of cold cases. The three of them did just that, and within an hour or two the usual bantering and bickering was replaced the by the three agents assisting each other with their cases and bouncing theories off each other. Gibbs for his part tried to find out about Antigua on his own, but didn't get very far. He kept finding 'Project Antiguas' by they were commercial projects and community projects both in Antigua and Guatemala, and Gibbs didn't think Guatemalan social housing was of interest to the US government. At 2pm he felt a headache coming on, and told the team to take a rare lunch break. Tony hung back to talk to his boss.

"Find anything?"

"Nothing, Nada...Made some tentative enquiries with people who're normally in the know...None of them know of any projects operating near Antigua, Guatemala that have ever been of US concern. A few in Guatemala City, sure, but none in La Antigua...But I'll keep searching."

"Alright. Thanks DiNozzo...Go, get food or something."

"Getting food boss! Hey guys wait up!" he grinned and ran to catch up with Ziva and McGee who'd walked on to the elevator without him.

Gibbs tried to get back to what he'd been doing, but his headache was worsening. Uncharacteristically he decided to take an ibuprofen which he quickly swallowed with the last gulp of his coffee. Gibbs sighed and examined the bottom of the empty cup before throwing it in the trash and deciding to head out for more.

Gibbs took one step out of the bullpen before running straight into a stony-faced Fornell.

"Hey Tobias. You find something for me?"

Gibbs took a moment to look at Fornell more closely. The man looked worried and anxious.

"Can we use your office Agent Gibbs?"

"Sure."

* * *

A minute later both men were in the elevator and Gibbs hit the emergency stop.

"What did you find out Tobias?"

"Nothing other than that you should back off Jethro...Within fifteen minutes of making a call to one of my contacts I had some...people at my door telling me it'd be best if I didn't make any more enquiries regarding Project Antigua. They said I'd regret it if I did."

"Who threatened you?" Gibbs asked, the knot of dread tightening it's grip around him.

Fornell's eyes grew wide, "Men in Black, Gibbs...Men in Black."

"What? They're a myth Tobias."

"That's what I thought...But I was wrong, and I'm not willing to threaten Emily's safety to help you...You understand?"

"Yeah," Gibbs sighed, "I understand...But I'm not going to let this rest Tobias...I'm going to keep on looking...But thank you for trying to help...I appreciate it."

Once again Gibbs flicked the emergency switch, and as the elevator sprang back to life Fornell took a gentle hold of Gibbs' arm.

"Be careful Jethro, please."

As the doors opened Fornell made a hasty exit leaving Gibbs to ponder their conversation.

_What were you up to Shannon? What were you up to?_

Gibbs sighed, hoping what he was about to do now was the right thing.

* * *

Thirty minutes later Gibbs returned to the bullpen, happy to see that McGee had returned on his own. The young agent noticed his boss staring at him.

"Boss?"

McGee's eyes then flickered to both Tony's and Ziva's desks, "Uhm...Tony had a brainwave about that cold case while we were at lunch. He and Ziva went down to evidence. Tony has something he wants Abby to run for him."

"And he needed Ziva to assist him?"

"No boss...She was going to get an evidence log for her own cold case. She'll be back up any minute."

"Okay."

Tim gave Gibbs a small smile before returning to his work. He typed a few words before realising his boss was still staring at him.

"Boss?"

"Think you could make some...enquiries for me? Off the record?"

"Nothing to do with a case?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"Not to do with a case, got it."

Gibbs walked round to McGee's desk and talked quietly over his shoulder and into his ear.

"I need you to find out anything you can about a government project from the 70s and 80s called 'Project Antigua', the Antigua being La Antigua, Guatemala rather than the island. I need you to gather information covertly, and without drawing attention to yourself. The project is classified, so if you don't want to assist, I understand."

"No boss, it's not a problem...I'm not going to get a break in this case today anyway, so I'll see what I can find out...But can I ask why you want to know about it?"

"Shannon did some work for it," Gibbs met McGee's stare as the younger man looked at him.

McGee realised Gibbs wasn't going to volunteer any more information, "Okay boss, I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks Tim."

Gibbs stepped out from Tim's desk, and decided now would be his best chance of getting solitary access to the NCIS records vault which was housed in the adjacent building. He briskly walked out of the bullpen just as Tony reappeared.

* * *

Tony watched his boss go, and then looked at Tim who wore a confused expression on his face. The Senior Agent quickly closed the gap between their desks and knelt down, staring at his Probie.

"Get anything related to your case yet?" McGee asked.

"Abby's rerunning ballistics for me...What did Bossman want?"

McGee gave Tony an unbelieving look, "No way you heard that conversation."

"Didn't hear...saw enough. Let me guess...Wants you to do some snooping that's not case related?"

"Yeah...Seems a bit odd," he commented.

"Yeah it does...Just promise me you'll be careful, Tim." Tony levelled a concerned stare at the younger man.

"Okay Tony," now McGee was really confused, and worried, "He ask you for help?"

"Yup...Not getting anywhere, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

Tony sighed, walking away from Tim's desk. He returned to the old reports he'd been pouring over, occasionally glancing sideways at his partner. He hoped Abby would be quick with her ballistics report so he'd have something else to occupy his mind.

Because now Tony was really worried.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all!

Many apologies for the delay...I'm just back my holidays and I wrote part of this there, and didn't really like...I still don't really like it, but these 'setting up chapters' are kind of a necessary evil so the story can really get moving...Please stick with me!

Many many thanks to ncislover1111, SpecialAgentAllie, fart fart, diana teo, L Moonshade, katesari and combatcrazy for the reviews!

This chapter introduces the first sci fi elements to the story :)

* * *

**Chapter Three**

McGee spent the rest of the day trying to track down anything he could find to do with a Project Antigua while Tony and Ziva continued to work on their respective cases. Eventually Ziva hit a dead end as well, so she helped Tony with his case instead. They'd discovered a glaring error made in calculating a bullet trajectory, but luckily the error wasn't on their end but on the end of the local LEOs who'd worked the case prior to handing it over to NCIS.

"So that could implicate the Corporal as the shooter," Ziva stated.

"Yeah, but then we're missing a motive, which the waitress definitely had...And...aha! She has a rap sheet!"

Tony clicked away with glee, bringing up the profile of a petite Asian woman on the screen.

"Oh yes, she definitely looks like a murderer Tony," Ziva admonished reading the woman's statistics, "She's only five foot in height."

"She could still have made that shot!"

McGee turned his attention back to his search and was rather surprised when a friend from MIT sent him an email.

_"Hey Tim, got your message and I have file that might interest you. The file isn't about Project Antigua, but is held by it. It's about something called the Riptide Directive, and if anyone asks where you found it, it wasn't me...This is serious high-level stuff and I don't want convicted of treason, and I mean that._

_Be careful Elf lord._

_Zack the Warlock"_

As McGee downloaded the file, he glanced up at Tony and Ziva who were now trying to re-enact how the waitress could have fired the shot.

"Tony, be serious! This was a calculated killing, not a game of twister!" Ziva groaned as Tony grabbed at one of her arms.

"Enough!" she said, forcing Tony off of her, "I will take our findings down to Abby, and she will tell us definitively."

With that Ziva took the case file and the rerun ballistics report and left the bullpen. Tony took a moment or two to unruffle his suit.

"Gibbs not back yet?" Tony asked.

"No...he's been gone a while," Tim concurred.

Tony sighed loudly returning to his desk and tapping lazily at his keyboard, "Something weird going on...You had any luck with that thing Gibbs wanted?"

"Yeah, just downloaded a file which might be of use to Gibbs...Something called the 'Riptide Directive'."

"Definitely something hinky," Tony muttered, continuing to type.

McGee silently nodded in agreement, returning to the file which had finished downloading and was opening on the desktop. He quickly scanned the first page.

_"Project Antigua - Research and Development_

_August 22nd 1977_

_FOR ANTIGUA STAFF, JOINT CHIEFS AND ABOVE ONLY_

_Intercepted document from Project Riptide detailing their response to anticipated Antigua success. The content of the document is detailed below:_

_Should any Riptide subjects escape custody at hands of Antigua. Riptide staff will use any means necessary to stop Antigua and the subjects from mobilising. This review of Riptide policy has been necessitated by the escape of the first subject - Shannon Jaida Fielding nine years ago. Subject had phase two clearance and upon her escape was recruited by Antigua. Subject considered highly dangerous and is a fanatic against the cause. Subject Fielding received mesh and cortical implant and-"_

Tim jumped as his computer cut out.

"What the hell?"

"What's up?" Tony asked.

"Damn computer just switched off," McGee said with exasperation, "Dammit!"

McGee tried to reboot his computer, but found himself unable to log back in to his system. Tony came over and input his own password, which seemed to work on the computer.

"Could the power thingy have scrambled your password?" Tony offered in an attempt to be helpful.

"Computer's don't work like that Tony, but thanks," Tim sighed.

"At least my password works so you can still log in."

"Yeah...I'm going to use a hack to get into my own files...This has brought up your preferences and your documents," Tim said, taking in the unfamiliar desktop configuration, "Your resolution's all wrong," he added, squinting at the tiny text on the screen.

"20/10 vision McProbie...I can see the screen fine...Maybe you need glasses."

"Yeah right Tony," McGee said as his own desktop appeared, but he quickly realised something was wrong.

"I can't get online, and that file I was reading is gone."

"The rip...directive one?" asked Tony.

"Yeah it was relating to what Gibbs asked me to look for and what I read of it was really weird...About test subjects and escaping and brain implants and all sorts."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I wish I were."

* * *

Gibbs returning from the NCIS Records Vault a couple of hours later. He'd hunted high and low for anything that would be of use to him, but had come up empty-handed. He returned to the bullpen to find Tony and Ziva typing up reports, and McGee seemingly pulling his entire computer apart.

"McGee!"

"Yeah boss?"

Gibbs indicated the mess of McGee's desk, and younger agent beckoned the team leader over.

"Did you find anything?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, and that's the problem," he sighed.

"Let's take a walk," the lead agent instructed.

Tony and Ziva watched the two leave the bullpen. Ziva wore an odd expression, but after a moment she shrugged and went back to her typing. Tony for his part watched both men until the elevator doors shut, and then turned his head up to the mezzanine level.

Vance's eyes may have seemed unreadable to almost everyone at NCIS HQ, but not to Tony. The two men exchanged a knowing look, and Vance almost imperceptibly nodded his head before returning to his office.

Tony sighed, hoping they were doing this the right way.

* * *

"I was reading a file on my computer than an MIT buddy had managed to find for me. It was a file that had belonged to project Antigua and it detailed something called the Riptide Directive."

Gibbs and McGee were taking a walk along the Potomac, coffee in hand to discuss what had happened, and Gibbs was not liking what he was hearing.

"The what?"

"The Riptide Directive, and I never did find out what it was actually about. It said the file had been intercepted by Project Antigua and outlined what this Riptide Programme or Organisation would do if Antigua was successful about something. Then it went on and spoke about test subjects, and those subjects being helped to escape by Antigua, and then it mentioned Shannon by name...At least I think was Shannon, if her middle name was Jaida."

"Yeah it was."

"Well the document noted that Shannon had been a subject of this, Riptide, and had escaped nine years earlier...they said she had some sort of clearance and had joined Antigua upon escaping. And it also said she was a 'fanatic against the cause' and that she'd received some sort of implants, a 'mesh' and a cortical one."

"What the hell?"

"I know...I keep thinking I must have read it wrong."

"And when was this document dated?"

"August 1977...What age would Shannon have been?"

"She would have been 19 or 20, which means when they say this 'Riptide' had her, she would have been ten or eleven."

"Gibbs...I don't know what else to tell you. It doesn't make any sense, but I don't think I'm going to be able to retrieve that document again. It's too big a coincidence that my computer shut down while I was reading it."

"I know McGee, I know."

* * *

It was about 2200 by the time the door chimed as Tony knew it would, and he quickly allowed Tobias Fornell in.

"Tobias."

"Anthony."

The two men looked at each other, and Tony took in the anger emanating from the shorter man.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing DiNozzo?" Tobias seethed.

"I don't know," was Tony's honest answer, "Take a seat."

Tobias hesitated for a brief moment before taking up the offer and slowly sinking into Tony's leather sofa.

Tony ducked out for a moment, bringing back two bottles of beer.

"What happened?" he asked the older Agent.

"He called me up, middle of the night. Asked what I knew about Antigua...Caught me a bit off-guard even though you'd warned me he might call."

"And what did you tell him?"

"A flat out lie...More like a series of flat out lies. Told him I'd never heard of it. Told him the files might be lost because they were so old. Told him I'd help him. Then I even told him the MIB turned up at my doorstep telling me to stop snooping."

Tobias tutted angrily before taking a sip of his beer.

"What he tell you?" Fornell asked Tony.

"Told me he needed to know what Shannon had worked on all those years ago. That he knew the programme operated out of Guatemala and involved old Mayan languages. But that was all he knew."

"And what did you tell him?"

"Basically same as you...told him I'd try to help him find out...which actually isn't much of a lie...We have been trying to get him clearance, but he needs to back off or he'll never find out."

Tobias sighed, "So what's the game plan?"

"We head him off at every point, try to stop him finding out anything. If he ends up in a briefing asking him to stop investigating he'll never listen, so we're just going to have to make it difficult. I've removed the files from the NCIS vault, and I made McGee's computer crash when he found a copy of the Riptide Directive."

"McGee found what? How on earth?"

"MIT buddy called Zack Leeman. Callum's working that angle to stop further leaks."

"Let me guess he asked McGee to help too."

"And you know McGee - there's no way he'd say no."

"I'll bet. So the game plan is to head him off at every pass? Who's helping us?"

"HQ knows he's snooping, so they're all on alert for potential breaches...We're all hoping that the powers that be will grant him access before this gets out of hand, but then they've been considering him for disclosure since he took off to Mexico."

"Hmm...Didn't do any favours for himself when he pulled that stunt."

"I know," sighed Tony, "It was the same time he got on their radar...And if he hadn't taken off to stay with Franks, he would have been read in within the year."

"The man can be his own worst enemy sometimes," Fornell quipped.


End file.
